


Under A for "Andy"

by TheatreGirl79



Series: Torchwood: Lost Archives [1]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1903929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheatreGirl79/pseuds/TheatreGirl79
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>PC Andy just may have had an incident with Torchwood before Gwen got too nosy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under A for "Andy"

_Summer 2009_

Gwen let out a sigh as she shuffled among the file folders, reading off the names in her mind, alphabetical of course. Finding the correct spot she slipped in Jamie Burton’s folder. Poor Jamie, dealing with leukemia, and now having to deal with Torchwood. Owen had refused to let them retcon Jamie, so he would forever remember watching Owen fight Death and win.

Running her fingers over his name, Gwen wondered just how much of a fight the poor sweetheart had in front of him. She took a deep breath and dropped the folder into the space she held open between her thumb and index finger. It was a small group of cases down in the archives, the ones they needed to be watched, only about one filing cabinet worth. Oh sure, these days Tosh kept a running tally on the computer, but Ianto had insisted on keeping a paper trail in case anything should be compromised. Tosh had been a bit miffed, but agreed in the end.

She was about to slam the drawer shut when a name caught her eye. She hurriedly pulled the cabinet drawer all the way out and rifled past the files in front of that particular folder. Snatching the edge of the folder, she wrenched it out of its place and gaped at the name under the harsh lights.

“Bloody hell,” Gwen choked out.

She didn’t say a word to Tosh, and paid no heed to Ianto as she ran past them. Owen tried to quip with her, but all she did was hold her hand up in his face. Rushing through the door to Jack’s office she shut the door behind her and dropped the file folder on the desk, in front of his face.

Jack stopped writing in his notebook and looked up at her quizzically. “Good morning Gwen. How are you doing today? Oh please, why don’t you come in?” Jack put the pen down. “What do you want Gwen?”

“Andy.”

“Excuse me?”

“Andy!”

“What?”

Gwen flipped open the folder revealing a picture of an eight-year-old boy with a mop of wild, curly hair. Gwen would recognise that picture anywhere. Andy’s mum still kept a copy of it on the back of the old upright in their sitting room.

“Andy!” Gwen jabbed her index finger down onto the file. “Why the hell do we have a file on Andy? Why did you never tell me about this, Jack?”

Jack quirked an eyebrow at Gwen and then leaned forward, taking her finger and moving it away from the folder. Jack picked up the file and leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the corner of the desk. Shooting one last look at Gwen, Jack snapped open the folder and started perusing the file on Andrew Davidson.

“Huh,” Jack muttered as he flipped page after page of the file.

Gwen crossed her arms across her chest. She stuck her right foot forward and began to tap it in an impatient rhythm. She tossed her head back as he continued to read. Gwen swore he was reading the file as slow as was inhumanely possible.

“Jack,” she intoned.

“Shhhhhh… Reading now,” he said as he flipped another page.

Gwen, frustrated, let out a grunt. Jack clucked his tongue at her. She dropped her arms to her side and nearly spun in a circle as she located the chair on the other side of his desk and flopped into it. She tried to glare at him through the folder.

“Well,” Jack said as he closed the file and tossed it onto his desk, somewhat in Gwen’s direction. “That is interesting.”

“Jack,” Gwen groaned leaning forward in the chair. “I found that in the cabinet of people who know about Torchwood. Andy doesn’t know about Torchwood, well, he didn’t. Jack, what’s going on?”

“Are you so sure he never knew about Torchwood?” Jack asked as he tapped two fingers against his bottom lip. “Maybe he was sworn to secrecy and never told anyone?” Jack pointedly looked at her.

“What? Andy? Nooooo.” Gwen shook her head in disbelief. “No, not Andy. Although he never told me about when he took Meirwen from dispatch out for a pint. I ended up finding out from Twm, but that’s totally different. Andy would have told me, especially when I joined up with you lot!”

“Are you so sure about that?” Jack smirked at her.

“What?” The word nearly spit out of her mouth, smacking Jack upside the head.

Jack chuckled and sat forward. “Don’t worry about. Andy doesn’t know about Torchwood, and shouldn’t. Now what you’ve told him, I have no idea,” Jack stated, shooting her a dirty look.

“I never told him anything, he just always seemed very interested,” Gwen said, sitting back in the chair. “What happened to him?”

“I didn’t realise that was him until I read the report there,” Jack said pointing at the file.

Gwen snatched the folder from Jack’s desk and started perusing the record.

“Andy was the first kid we retconned,” Jack said.

“What!” The folder snapped in Gwen’s hands as she brought it down to her knees and glared at Jack. “You retconned Andy as a child? Why?”

“Had to,” Jack stated. “Him and his cousin had a run-in with a hyper-dimensional species—“

“A run-in?”

“They were abducted.” 

“Andy was abducted and you retconned him? When?”

“He was eight, I think. It was the best thing,” Jack said shrugging his shoulders. “That species, they weren’t bad, just didn’t realise you couldn’t take humans home as souvenirs of your holiday.”

“But if they weren’t bad aliens, why did you need to retcon them? Don’t most children forget about their alien encounters and work it into their fantasies like their make believe friends?” Gwen closed the folder, barely looking at it.

“Most do,” Jack said, folding his hands on the top of his desk. “We didn’t know if it was something to do with them, or if it was something to do with the aliens. I did mention they were hyper-dimensional didn’t I? Sensory overload is the least of the concerns when a human comes into contact with them, and a child, with their mind already so open…”

Gwen slumped back into the chair as the realisation came to her. Poor Andy. Poor, poor Andy. No wonder he wanted to always tag along like a lost little puppy. Something deep within him still recognised aliens for the truth of what they were.

“But if you retconned him, why do we need to still keep an eye on him?”

“Like I said, they were the first children we retconned. We wanted to keep a watch on them, make sure everyone was fine,” Jack said as he stood up and walked around the desk. “Plus, his cousin kept trying to shake off the retcon, we wanted to make sure he didn’t start telling too many tall tales.” Jack walked behind her and up to the door of his office. He stood there holding it open.

“But, Jack,” Gwen said standing up and facing him. “You were there. Why does it seem like you never remembered Andy?”

“It wouldn’t have helped the situation if I had,” Jack replied. “Plus, until I read that report, I didn’t realise it was the same kid. No wonder there was something about him that always bugged me.”

Gwen held the file to her chest and started to walk out the door. Halfway through the doorway she stopped and turned back to Jack. “What if he does remember?”

“It would be better for him if he didn’t. They didn’t do any harm to them, but experiencing hyper-dimensions can harm humans, especially if they aren’t prepared for it.” Jack put his hand on her back, guiding her out the door. “Plus if he calls me Captain Stinkypants one more time I might have to shoot him. Wouldn’t be so bad now, he’s an adult.”

Gwen stopped dead in her tracks and whipped her head around and looked at Jack. “Captain Stinkypants?” She was about to burst into laughter and struggled to keep it at bay.

Jack let out a groan. “Hyper-dimensional beings don’t necessarily believe in waste units and will leave it anywhere. While trying to save the boys, the ship jolted and I slipped, landing in a pile of… waste.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “They also don’t particularly smell like lilacs and rosewater either.”

Gwen couldn’t take it anymore. Between the images of an eight-year-old Andy being abducted and then feeling like he was on drugs, and Jack landing in a pile of waste in the rescue attempt, Gwen began to laugh. It started as a cute little chuckle and evolved into a guttural laugh. That was it! She was on a jag now, she probably couldn’t stop if Owen decided to up and die again.

Jack forcefully shoved her out into main area of the Hub. “Ianto!” Jack bellowed. 

Ianto came striding over, shooting Gwen a murderous look. “Yes Jack,” Ianto said.

“Coffee, now. And I need to talk to you about the archives,” Jack said as he stormed back into his office. A moment later, Gwen swore she could hear a laugh echo from within.

Gwen grasped Andy’s file and headed back down to the archives to put it away. It was rich. If Andy knew that Torchwood had taken care of him before, he would be flabbergasted. What Gwen would give to be there when he found out. He would probably say something about how even then Torchwood was “fobbing him off” and was out to get him.

She let out a sigh. “Oh Andy,” Gwen said to no one as she stood before the filing cabinet once more. She reopened the drawer and was about to put him back where she had gotten him from when a thought occurred to her. No matter how much bullshit she fed him, no matter how much they seemed to walk all over him at crime scenes, Andy still trusted them. Deep down he did know and remember that Torchwood had saved him and could save others, Captain Stinkypants and all. She smiled as she closed the cabinet and headed back upstairs.

**Author's Note:**

> _Originally published July 6, 2099._


End file.
